gtm-advisor

name: gtm-advisor description: | Advises on go-to-market strategy, positioning, pricing, and customer research. Use when: launching products, positioning against competitors, pricing decisions, understanding customer needs, or conducting user research. Includes: Champion Persona, Five Component Positioning, JTBD Interviews, Four Forces, Willingness to Pay frameworks. Sources: April Dunford, Bob Moesta, Madhavan Ramanujam.

GTM Advisor Skill

Help users with go-to-market strategy, positioning, pricing, and customer research.

When This Skill Activates

• "How do we position this?"
• "Pricing strategy"
• "Customer research"
• "Jobs to be done"
• "Product launch"
• "Who is our target customer?"
• "Why aren't customers buying?"
• "Competitive positioning"

Framework Selection Guide

Framework 1: Champion Persona (B2B)

Source: April Dunford - Lenny's Podcast Key Insight: In B2B, your champion (internal seller) is as important as the end user. Understand who sells your product when you're not in the room.

Who is the Champion?

• The person inside the company who advocates for your solution
• May or may not be the end user
• Definitely not always the decision-maker
• The one who does the internal selling

Champion Characteristics to Identify

Demographics:

• Title/Role
• Department
• Seniority level
• Reporting structure

Motivations:

• What do they get if this succeeds?
• Career implications
• Pain they personally feel
• Recognition they'll receive

Constraints:

• Budget authority
• Political capital
• Technical knowledge
• Time availability

Building Champion Persona

Step 1: Identify Champion Patterns Look at won deals:

• Who brought you in?
• Who pushed internally?
• What was their role?

Step 2: Understand Champion's Wins

• What does success look like for them?
• How does your product make them a hero?
• What recognition do they get?

Step 3: Map Champion's Selling Journey

• Who do they need to convince?
• What objections do they face?
• What proof do they need from you?

Step 4: Arm the Champion Create materials that help them sell:

• ROI calculators
• Comparison charts
• Success stories from similar companies
• Executive summaries

Champion vs. User vs. Buyer

Sometimes one person, often different people.

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Selling only to buyers (neglecting champion)
• Assuming user = champion
• Not giving champion ammunition
• Ignoring champion's personal motivations

Framework 2: Five Component Positioning

Source: April Dunford - Lenny's Podcast Key Insight: Positioning is not messaging—it's the context that makes your value obvious.

The Five Components (In Order)

1. Competitive Alternatives What would customers do if you didn't exist?

• Not just direct competitors
• Include status quo (spreadsheets, manual processes)
• Include indirect alternatives

2. Unique Attributes What do you have that alternatives don't?

• Features
• Capabilities
• Business model differences
• Service differences

3. Value What value do those attributes deliver?

• Connect features to benefits
• Quantify where possible
• Focus on differentiated value

4. Target Customers Who cares a lot about that value?

• Best-fit customer characteristics
• Not everyone—the people who value your differentiation most

5. Market Category What market frame makes your value obvious?

• Category sets expectations
• May need to create new category
• Or position in existing category differently

Positioning Process

Step 1: Start with Competitive Alternatives List everything customers would do instead:

• Direct competitors
• Indirect solutions
• Status quo / do nothing

Step 2: Identify Your Unique Attributes For each alternative, what do you have that they don't?

Step 3: Map Attributes to Value

Step 4: Identify Best-Fit Customers Who values this differentiated value most?

• Company characteristics
• Situation characteristics
• Pain intensity

Step 5: Choose Market Category What frame makes your value obvious? Options:

• Existing category (if you win on known criteria)
• Sub-category (narrow the field)
• New category (if truly different)

Positioning Statement Template

For [target customers] who [have this problem], [product] is a [category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [alternatives], we [key differentiator].

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Starting with category (should come last)
• Positioning for everyone (be specific)
• Feature focus without value translation
• Ignoring competitive alternatives
• Positioning on non-differentiated value

Framework 3: Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) Interviews

Source: Bob Moesta - Lenny's Podcast Key Insight: People don't buy products, they hire them to make progress in their lives.

The JTBD Concept

• Customers have a "job" they need done
• They "hire" products to do that job
• Understanding the job reveals true competition and value

The Timeline Interview

The Goal: Reconstruct the journey from first thought to purchase.

Key Moments to Uncover:

1. First Thought "When did you first think you might need something different?"

2. Passive Looking "What did you notice before actively searching?"

3. Active Looking "When did you start actively looking? What triggered that?"

4. Deciding "What made you choose this specific option?"

5. Consuming "What happened after you bought it?"

Interview Questions

Opening: "Tell me about how you came to [buy/use] this product."

Timeline probes:

• "And then what happened?"
• "Tell me more about that"
• "What were you thinking at that moment?"
• "Who else was involved?"

Energy probes:

• "What pushed you to finally act?"
• "What were you worried about?"
• "What almost stopped you?"

What You're Listening For

Push of current situation (what's wrong now) Pull of new solution (what's attractive) Anxiety about new solution (what's scary) Habit of current behavior (what's comfortable)

Conducting JTBD Interviews

Who to interview:

• Recent customers (bought in last 90 days)
• Churned customers
• Customers who almost bought but didn't

Interview setup:

• 45-60 minutes
• Record (with permission)
• Go deep on timeline
• Listen more than ask

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Asking what they want (they don't know)
• Skipping emotional dimensions
• Not going deep enough on timeline
• Interviewing the wrong people (not recent)
• Leading the witness

Framework 4: Four Forces of Demand

Source: Bob Moesta - Lenny's Podcast Key Insight: Two forces push toward change (Push + Pull), two forces resist change (Anxiety + Habit).

The Four Forces

Forces Driving Change:

1. Push (of current situation)

• What's wrong with what they have now?
• Pain, frustration, limitations
• "I can't keep doing it this way"

2. Pull (of new solution)

• What's attractive about the new thing?
• Vision of better future
• "That looks like it would solve my problem"

Forces Resisting Change:

3. Anxiety (about new solution)

• Fear of unknown
• Risk of switching
• "What if it doesn't work?"
• "What if I chose wrong?"

4. Habit (of current behavior)

• Comfort with status quo
• Switching costs
• "I know how this works"
• "It's good enough"

The Formula

Change happens when: Push + Pull > Anxiety + Habit

No change when: Anxiety + Habit > Push + Pull

Using the Four Forces

Step 1: Map Each Force For your product/market:

Step 2: Identify Weak Forces

• If Push is weak: They don't feel enough pain
• If Pull is weak: Your value prop isn't compelling
• If Anxiety is high: You need to reduce risk
• If Habit is strong: You need to ease switching

Step 3: Address Each Force

Increase Push:

• Help them see the cost of status quo
• Quantify the pain
• Show competitive pressure

Increase Pull:

• Better articulate value
• Show outcomes, not features
• Use social proof

Reduce Anxiety:

• Money-back guarantees
• Free trials
• Customer references
• Clear implementation plan

Reduce Habit:

• Make switching easy
• Migration assistance
• Gradual transition options

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Only focusing on Pull (ignoring Push)
• Ignoring Anxiety and Habit
• Assuming features overcome Habit
• Not reducing switching costs

Framework 5: Willingness to Pay Research

Source: Madhavan Ramanujam - Lenny's Podcast Key Insight: Ask about willingness to pay BEFORE building, not after.

Why WTP Research Matters

• Price too high: No sales
• Price too low: Leave money on table
• Not knowing: Building wrong product

Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity

Ask four questions about your product:

1. Too cheap (quality concern): "At what price would you begin to question quality?"
2. Cheap (bargain): "At what price would this be a bargain?"
3. Expensive (but would consider): "At what price does this start feeling expensive?"
4. Too expensive (won't buy): "At what price is this too expensive to consider?"

Plot responses to find optimal price range.

Direct WTP Questions

Approach 1: Direct "How much would you pay for [product with these features]?"

Approach 2: Comparison "Compared to [alternative], would you pay more, less, or the same?"

Approach 3: Trade-off "Would you rather have [Feature A at $X] or [Feature B at $Y]?"

Feature-Value Mapping

Step 1: List Features All potential features/capabilities

Step 2: Categorize by Value

Step 3: Price to Value

• Price differentiators aggressively
• Don't over-invest in table stakes
• Bundle nice-to-haves for upgrades

Running WTP Conversations

Setup:

• 30-45 minute conversations
• With target customers (not just anyone)
• Before building, not after

What to show:

• Concept or prototype
• Feature descriptions
• Value propositions

What to ask:

• WTP questions above
• What would make you pay more?
• What's not valuable?
• How does this compare to alternatives?

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Asking after building (too late to change)
• Taking answers literally (directional, not exact)
• Not segmenting responses (different WTP by segment)
• Pricing on cost, not value

How to Apply This Skill

1. Identify the GTM challenge

   • Who to target → Champion Persona
   • How to position → Five Component Positioning
   • Why customers switch → JTBD Interviews
   • Why customers don't buy → Four Forces
   • How to price → Willingness to Pay

2. Walk through the relevant framework

3. Help create specific outputs

   • Champion persona document
   • Positioning statement
   • Interview guide
   • Four forces analysis
   • Pricing research plan

4. Connect to related frameworks when appropriate

Related Skills

• /strategy-advisor - For product strategy
• /growth-advisor - For growth tactics
• /decision-maker - For GTM decisions

Full SOPs (Deep Dives)

Positioning & Customer Research

• Champion Persona
• Five Component Positioning
• JTBD Interviews
• Four Forces

Pricing

• Willingness to Pay
• SaaS Pricing Optimization
• Value Metrics Identification
• Pricing Page Best Practices
• Churn Reduction Tactics

Sales

• Founder-Led Sales
• B2B Sales Playbook
• First 10 Customers
• Sales Motion Discovery
• Founder to Sales Team
• Enterprise Sales for Startups
• First Sales Hire
• Sales Team Scaling

Developer Tools

• Developer Experience Design
• Developer Tool Company Building
• Open Source to Enterprise
• Technical Product Marketing

Communication

• Executive Communication
• Presentation Structure
• Spontaneous Speaking